The SURFCAM.PST File 

The SURFCAM.PST file contains commands that are used by the NC Operations Manager when performing functions related to post processing. It also contains other commands, not related to post processing, that can be executed from the NC Operations Manager dialog box.

To work with the SURFCAM.PST file you must become familiar with its structure and contents. It is located in the C:\SURFCAM\Surf2003 folder. It would be helpful to obtain a printed copy of the file to study. You can do this by opening the file in any text editor—or double-click on the file name to open it in the SURFCAM editor—and printing it from there.

We will first look at the structure of the PST file and then consider the meaning of the commands contained in it.

# sign

The # sign placed at the beginning of some lines designates a comment line that will be ignored when the file is read by the NC Operations Manager. The comment lines at the beginning of the file form a heading while those at the end provide a file description. Those used throughout the rest of the file act as separators.

Begin Post

See PST BeginPost Sections.

Post Item

See PST PostItem Subsections.

Commands

Execute the commands contained in the PST file using the NC Operations Manager dialog box. Some are executed by clicking buttons located on the toolbar. Others are executed by double-clicking on an entry in either the Post List box or the Filter List box. Clicking once on an entry and clicking the Post button also works.

See PST File Commands, Variables and Switches, and Special PST File Commands.

PST BeginPost Sections 

The main commands in the PST file relate to post processing and are divided into six NC mode sections—EDM, Lathe, 2 Axis, 3 Axis, 4 Axis, and 5 Axis. The contents of these mode sections determines what gets listed in the Post List box in the NC Operations Manager dialog box. The NC Mode SURFCAM is in when the NC Operations Manager is opened tells the Operations Manager which of these PST file NC mode sections to read. Following are the first several lines in the 3 Axis mode section.

Each NC mode section begins with a line that reads “BeginPost <name> Default:<n>” where <name> is the name of the NC mode and <n> is a number designating which post in the Post List box will be highlighted when the NC Operations Manager dialog box is first opened. A 4 indicates the fourth post in the Post List box will be highlighted. The highlighted post is referred to as the default post.

Because NC mode sections begin with the Begin command they will also be referred to as BeginPost sections.

PST PostItem Subsections 

BeginPost sections are divided into subsections which begin with the command PostItem. Some PostItem subsections contain commands to run one of the Spost post processors—SpostM or SpostL—using one of the Spost posts.

Such a PostItem subsection begins with a line that reads “PostItem <name>” where <name> is the name of the Spost post as it appears in the Post List box of the NC Operations Manager dialog box.

Other PostItem subsections contain commands to run MPost.

The first PostItem subsection contains commands to run an MPost post processor (which, by convention, means an MPOSTWIN, LPOSTWIN or EPOSTWIN post processor).

The APT-CL PostItem subsection contains the commands to run the INC2APT program which will convert the selected operations into the standard APT format used by many other commercial post processors.

The PostItem APT-CL subsection will usually be the last in a BeginPost section.

The last command in each PostItem subsection is a Task command. This causes the NCC or APT output file to be loaded into the SURFCAM editor and displayed on the screen.

Each PostItem line is followed by several lines of commands that accomplish post processing using that post.

PST File Commands, Variables and Switches 

The function of the commands following a PostItem line are as follows:

Status

Designates one line of help to be printed on the Status line of the NC Operations Manager dialog box.

Command

Executes programs and Windows applications within SURFCAM using a command expressed in the command line format.

ChDir

The change folder command.

Delete

Deletes a temporary file.

Rename

Renames a file.

CopyFile

Copies a file.

Task

Executes Windows applications for multi-tasking within SURFCAM.

The description of the variables appearing with the post commands is as follows:

The description of the switches appearing with the post commands is as follows:

The order in which posts appear in each NC mode section is the order in which they appear in the Post List box.

The most significant line in a post subsection—for the task of adding a post—is the second Command line, such as in the following example:

Command C:\SURFCAM\Surf2003\SPOST\SPOSTM C:\SURFCAM\APT\%N.apt 06

The first part of this command line (C:\SURFCAM\Surf2003\SPOST\SPOSTM) tells which Spost post processor will be used—in this case, Spostm.exe for mills. The number at the end of this line tells which post will be used in the post processing. This number corresponds to the machine number designated by the last two digits in the file name for the post—in this case, UNCX01.P06, which is the post for the Haas VF-1 machine.

Special PST File Commands 

The following command is listed near the end of the PST file. It is executed from the NC Operations Manager toolbar. It creates a Setup Sheet.

The next commands are executed from the Filter List box by clicking the appropriate entry and clicking Filter Only or Post. See Tool Path Smoother with the ArcFltr feature to ArcFltrMx Filter and to NURB Filter.